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This year Astrea sponsored six women to attend the WHEN conference, and here's what they had to say about what stood out most for them on the day.
This month saw the annual conference for WHEN, the Women in Higher Education Network. The theme of the conference centred around the topic of labels and the question attendees were asked to think about was 'who am I supposed to be?'
The event kicked of with a welcome address from WHEN's Chief Executive, Alice Chilver of UCL. A brief picture of women in higher education was painted by keynote speaker Professor Kalwant Bhopal who also spoke on the the panel discussion centred around the topic of 'how I became my authentic self'.
The theme of identity and labels came about from an article for WHEN's editorial, The Edit, in which a colleague wrote about her own identity and the struggle to manage the various labels that she felt assigned to her. The WHEN conference encouraged attendees to think about the labels they own, either those that are given by others or those that we give to ourselves.
What stood out most for me at the conference was how inspiring and real the speeches were. Hearing about other women’s experiences, made me feel less alone in my own experience and more a part of something bigger we are all going through in our own unique way.
My experience at the conference also inspired me to pick apart my labels and really look at which ones were serving me and which ones I should leave behind. One of the labels I carried was that I was the person that never feels quite enough. I will leave this label behind knowing that this is not just my experience but other peoples too. This has in turn liberated me to work on creating a new label to take its place.“
- Gia Lulic, UCL Organisational Development
Listening to the speakers made me think about what I really want for my future career and to start exploring the different career pathways that are available. , I had the impression that WHEN is really a place where you can share your experiences, learn from each another but most importantly be yourself without feeling to be judged for being ‘sensitive or ‘vulnerable’ – labels too often associated with women. I would say the labels I would attribute to myself would be 'positive, ambitious and task-orientated'.“
- Ilaria Marsili, European Research and Innovation Office
The opportunity to attend WHEN was fantastic, as currently a label I am testing more and more is career driven. I really enjoyed the mix of women from across the whole higher education sector, highlighting the importance of all roles across the institute. A label I have always owned, since primary school and continue to is, enthusiastic.“
- Emily Robinson, UCL, Great Ormond Street, Institute of Child Health (GOS,ICH)